One desirable way of treating plants or plant parts is to prepare a liquid composition that contains one or more cyclopropene compound and then apply that liquid composition to plants or plant parts. It is contemplated that such treatment is useful for blocking the effects of ethylene in the treated plants or plant parts. One useful way of preparing such a liquid composition is to make an encapsulation complex in which a molecule of a cyclopropene compound is encapsulated in a molecule of a molecular encapsulation agent. The encapsulation complex can be made into a powder, which can be conveniently stored and transported. One method of using such a powder is to make a liquid composition by mixing the powder with water, possibly along with other ingredients, and bringing the resulting liquid composition into contact with plants or plant parts, for example by spraying or dipping.
One difficulty that arises with such a method of making and using such liquid compositions is that contact with water may cause the cyclopropene compound to release from the encapsulation complex too quickly. Release of cyclopropene compound that happens too quickly can cause several problems. If the liquid composition is in an enclosed container such as a spray tank, undesirably high levels of cyclopropene compound may accumulate in the headspace of the container. Also, if the liquid composition is sprayed or is placed into an open tank (e.g., an open tank into which plants or plant parts will be dipped), undesirable amounts of cyclopropene compound may be released to the atmosphere and become unavailable for coming into contact with plants or plant parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,186 describes perfume/cyclodextrin complexes suspended in polyalkylene glycol carrier material.
It is desired to provide a powder composition that contains one or more cyclopropene compound and that, when mixed with water, retards the release of cyclopropene compound but does not entirely prevent the release of cyclopropene compound.